SWEATED TEACHERS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1900, 7 November 1913, Page 7

SWEATED TEACHERS.

tiTlflT REACHED. IN 'AN;ENGLISH JliOir rwori-i-isnCOUNty.jioam/idi,

The , reoenfc threatened strike of elettnentary school teachers in Hereford- ' shire, England,' drew attention to. the . rates' of' pay which are fairly common ' throughout England. These are . low, but by comparison with the scale in Herefordshire they, border on the munificent.

. ' The average salary for a headmaster in England is £178 Bs, lid. In Herefordshire there is only one headmaster who receives £170 a year, and there are ■ three with less than £90 a year apiece For headmistresses the average salary throughout England is over £122. In Herefordshire there are three certificated headmistresses receiving less than £70 a yearseven between £70 and £80; and soventeen getting £110 and upwards, five of these taking the maximum of £120. The average for the county is under £88. For certificated ..assistant masters the average for England ia £127 9s. lid.; that for Hereford ' Is £85. 1 And the rato of pay has been • dropping steadily. Tho average salary for a male.teacher in Herefordshire wrfs £113 2s. ,in 1004-5. It was only £109 7s. in, 1911-12, Women's salaries have I gone down from £78 Bs. to £75 9s; in i'tho same period. The county employs \ 117 men and 71 women teachers. With an Education jato of 6Jd. in the £ the Herefordshire Authority prides .itsolf upon being the most economical in tho land. The economy, however, may prove rather like that of tho man who gradually reduced his horse's nourishment to an oat a day—when the animal spoilt the experiment by dying, Members of . the National Union of Teachers, who comprise 78 per cent, of the certificated teachers of the country, are in a peculiarly strong position as rel cards strike pay should a dispute occur. ■ During an authorised cessation of work their union will pay thorn full salaries for at least five years—at the end of which time the matter will be reconsidered, if necessary! _ A teacher on strike who is found a situation in another country will have his or her salary made up by the union to its former amount, supposing tho new position' is (Inferior. The uprooting of local attaohj ments appears to ho the only terror that [faces the modern teaoher at war with pis masters. If a strike Is decidod uprin the union /w|ll conduct a strong campaign in the (Country. Any attompt to obtain satisfactory "blackleg" labour in such a jdispute is declared to hn hopeless. Mean* J-while the Tlarlepool Education Commit'"tee'has postponod consideration of the ("fritter ory of a male teacher who, after '22 years, asserts that his salary of £85 |s not a. wage upon which he and his j •Vita and family can live.

On* hundred and twenty-one thousand 'Awo hundred and fifty-fivo crans of herjrings were landed at Shields during the Jierrin? season?, representing a sum of

. No one but an aviator has the Tight to look down on others.